Laura Kurella is an award-winning, self-syndicated food columnist, an award-winning Food Stylist, and the author of two cookbooks: Fabulous Desserts and Fabulous Tiny Bites and beverage. Her column, Vitality Cuisine, appears each Tuesday in the
...

Laura Kurella is an award-winning, self-syndicated food columnist, an award-winning Food Stylist, and the author of two cookbooks: Fabulous Desserts and Fabulous Tiny Bites and beverage. Her column, Vitality Cuisine, appears each Tuesday in the Sturgis Journal, and her Radio Recipe show can be heard Tuesday mornings at 7:15 am at WBETFM.com Questions or comments? Contact Laura at Laurakurella@yahoo.com.

This vintage kitchen tool (center photo)is an ACME Safety Grater that lives up to its claims of being finger friendly. So much so, that it is still being made - and sold - to this day!

By Laura Kurella

May 18, 2013
2:22 p.m.

QUIP: Last week, a friend asked me as she waved this thing in the air, “What is this?” It appeared to be a screen of some sort but has a sharpness that screens don’t’ normally have so I investigated and found this out.

TIP: If you have – or run across one at a garage sale – you will be looking at an ACME safety Grater /multi-use/ kitchen tool that was likely made in Newark, N.J. quite some time ago.

According to its package literature, this Acme can grate, dice and strain quickly, without cutting your fingers and, it’s easy to clean and store.

It claims to be made with a new, stronger construction and if you find it in its original package, even comes with recipes such as tasty torte and potato pancakes.

The instructions show grating just as you would a standard box grater and for dicing, it’s recommended to use on cooked vegetables. For straining, it shows a figure of hands pressing it against the edge of a tipped pot, holding back the contents and allowing the liquid to leave.

Further investigation revealed that this type of grater is still available for purchase, which shows it must live up to its promises.

I found that Kuchenprofi sells a brand new, 18/10 Stainless Steel potato grater/shredder for $16 -$20 on Amazon and Ebay has quite a few used, “Vintage” ones listed for around the same price. However, I bet you can find one at a summer garage sale or Goodwill or Salvation Army for $1 or less.

It’s a good tool to have if you do lots of hand grating and want to spare your own skin.